Collision
by maggief
Summary: Modern AU. Merlin is a Doctor, Arthur is a lawyer. They live together, but keep their work lives completely separate. Until one day, they collide. Please R&R!  Implied slash, but no explicit descriptions.
1. Chapter 1

"We've got a collision coming in. ETA three minutes. Two casualties; one drunk driver and the driver of the other car."

Dr. Merlin Emrys sighed. He'd been on call for the past 35 and a half hours, and was meant to be off in less than thirty minutes. Was meant to be going home and crawling into bed with Arthur. His boyfriend. Not that anyone here knew he had a boyfriend, of course. It's not that he was ashamed of Arthur, or of being gay. It's just... Hospitals, doctors, he wasn't sure how they'd react. They all had to spend so much time here, on too little sleep and too much stress; he didn't need to add any extra tension to that mix.

Plus, in his first week here, he'd seen how one of the other doctors had reacted to a gay patient. How he'd cringed away before he could reaffix his professional mask. Merlin didn't want them to look at him like that.

He hadn't seen Arthur properly for over a week. Arthur was a lawyer, and a damn good one at that. Which meant that he worked almost as many hours as Merlin did. But at least Arthur kept vaguely sociable hours. At least Arthur slept at night, when it was dark. And finally, tonight, Merlin was meant to be sleeping at night as well, sleeping at the same time as Arthur, in his arms. Hell, Merlin had been hoping for some sex even.

At the sound of the ambulance arriving into the bay, Merlin shook these thoughts out of his head, and headed out into the rain.

"White male, non responsive. Lacerations to the head and arms. Possible broken femur." The paramedic reeled off the man's vitals. "Blood alcohol level at 0.17."

More than twice over the legal limit, this was the drunk driver. The cause of the accident. Merlin swallowed heavily. He knew some doctors had a hard time reconciling the fact that they have to treat everyone who comes into the ER. Murderers, paedophiles, rapists; no matter what they've done they deserve an equal chance at life. Sometimes it's hard to remember the oath they have all taken but they manage, in the end.

"Ok, let's get him into trauma one."

Dr. Lance Grayson glances at Merlin; "you alright with this one?"

"Yeah, sure, you wait for the other ambulance."

Merlin wheels his patient inside, putting the circumstances of his injuries to the back of his mind. It's not his place to judge, but to heal.

Merlin loses himself into his job, mind completely intent on his patient. He catches in his peripheral vision when the other driver is brought into the adjacent trauma room, but doesn't give it a second thought.

Although his patient looks bad, he is stabilised fairly quickly, but he remains unconscious. Merlin snaps off his gloves and pushes his way into the other trauma room which is still a flurry of activity. As Merlin walks in the man's heart falters, and is shocked back into a healthy rhythm.

"What do we have here Lance?"

"Other driver, white male, was conscious and responding to questions when we brought him in. Severe head wounds, broken arm, two broken ribs, punctured lung. Heart has stopped twice. We need to intubate."

"On it," Merlin responds, and crosses over to stand behind the man's head, reaching out to grab an intubation tube.

He has the tube halfway down the man's throat before he really looks at him, before he _recognises_ him.

Arthur.

Merlin's hands are suddenly shaking. His breathing coming in short gasps. He feels like _his_ heart has stopped beating as well.

It is Arthur who is bleeding out on the bed before him. It is Arthur whose heart cannot maintain a stable rhythm. It is Arthur who might die due to a drunk driver. The man whose life Merlin has just saved.

"Dr. Emrys." Lance's voice his stern, shocking Merlin out of his stupor. "He needs to be intubated. Now."

Merlin responds more due to muscle memory more than anything else, sliding the tube down Arthur's throat and hooking it up to the oxygen supply. Then he backs away slowly. He is unable to take his eyes off Arthur, his beautiful Arthur lying broken on the table in front of him. With a choked sob, he flees the room.

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><p>Chapter 2 to follow soon! All my medical knowledge comes from tv shows etc, so I apologise for any errors!<p> 


	2. Chapter 2

He barely makes it to the men's room before the vomit rises out of his throat, burning. He stays there, head bent over the toilet until there are only dry heaves left, and then stands up to rinse his face, his mouth. He allows himself only a brief moment to calm himself before he heads back to the ER. If Arthur is dying on that table, there is no way Merlin can leave him there alone.

Taking a deep breath to stabilise himself, he pushes into the trauma room, and heads straight to Arthur's side, before taking his limp hand in his own.

"Arthur."

The word is barely a whisper but Lance catches it; "you know this man?"

"Yes."

Merlin just doesn't know what else to say.

"He needs to be taken to surgery immediately. Do you want to scrub in?"

Merlin merely shakes his head, and lets go of Arthur's hand as an intern starts to wheel him away.

"You know his name? Can inform his next of kin, get them down here?" Lance isn't looking at Merlin, he is engrossed in the chart in his hands.

Merlin looks at Lance, taking a moment to assess his friend. When Merlin and Arthur had finally moved in together last year they had both had to register with a new doctor, no longer being in the right catchment area for their old ones. Arthur had refused to put down either his father or Morgana as his next of kin. He'd put down Merlin instead. And Merlin had put down Arthur.

"I am his next of kin."

At this Lance's eyes look up. Merlin can practically see the wheels in his head turning. He knows Merlin has no siblings, realises who this man must be instead. Merlin holds his breath, awaiting Lance's reaction, his judgement.

"Married?"

Merlin breathes heavily. "Not yet."

Lance nods. As if that's all there is to it.

"He's in good hands. Go get yourself a cup of tea, call whoever you need to. I'll keep you updated."

He clasps his hand on Merlin's shoulder, eyes showing nothing more than simple concern. Merlin nods and Lance leaves him alone in the blood stained trauma room. Arthur's heart flat lines twice more during surgery. Merlin does not watch. 

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><p>Very short I know. Next chapter up soon hopefully! And thanks for reading, I was very happy to get so many story subscription alerts!<p> 


	3. Chapter 3

Sorry for the long time in posting this, have been on holiday :)

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><p>The first thing Arthur registers is that the light is too bright. Merlin must be awake. Whether he's getting up for work, or getting ready for bed Arthur isn't sure, can't remember. He can't remember. When did he get home?<p>

"Mer..." His voice is scratched, worn. There is no reply.

Slowly Arthur opens his eyes to look for Merlin, and realises he isn't at home.

His head hurts as he slowly moves it, taking in his surroundings. He's in a hospital room. Merlin is asleep in an uncomfortable looking chair, his hand close to Arthur's. It is clear that he has fallen asleep holding it. Why is Arthur here? Merlin is in his scrubs, so Arthur assumes that this is his hospital. What the hell?

Arthur twitches his fingers so they brush against Merlin's and tries to call his name again. Although the word is barely more than breath escaping through his lips, Merlin stirs.

"Arthur?" His voice is soft with sleep. Merlin looks up and sees that Arthur is awake, that Arthur is conscious.

"Oh Arthur." His eyes fill with tears as he tentatively hugs his boyfriend, mindful of his myriad injuries.

Arthur tries to ask what on earth is going on, but Merlin shushes him, just holding onto Arthur tight, crying silent tears into the warm skin of his neck.

They stay that way for several minutes, until Merlin's heavy breathing eventually evens out to match Arthur's slow measured breaths. Once the tears have stopped Merlin leans back to get a good look at Arthur. He doesn't speak.

"Merlin? What happened?"

Merlin bites his lip, worried. Nervous?

"You..." His breathing hitches slightly, but he doesn't start crying again. "You were involved in a car crash, hit by a drunk driver who ran a red light. They brought you here. And..." At this he does start crying, "I didn't realise, Arthur, I didn't know it was you. I treated, treated the other driver, the drunk, the fucking wanker who did this to you. I saved his life. I didn't know it was you, I didn't know. I only saw as they were taking you to surgery. I didn't know. I'm sorry."

He looks at Arthur beseechingly, as if he has committed some atrocious crime. Arthur's heart breaks.

"_Merlin." _

"It's your job, to save lives. Your job. And look, I'm here, I'm fine. It kinda hurts, but I'm here. I'm here".

"Oh god Arthur, I was so fucking scared. I thought I was going to lose you. I thought I already had."

And somehow, even though Arthur is the one who is injured, Arthur is the one in pain, it ends up being him comforting Merlin until they both doze off, hands entwined.

The next time Arthur awakes his head feels heavy, and he keeps his eyes closed against the brightness of the artificial lights. Merlin is still next to Arthur, head resting on the bed, breath sounds slow and even; he is still asleep.

The door opens, and Arthur can feel Merlin awake immediately by his side.

"Ah, Emrys, still here I see." The voice is not one that Arthur recognises.

"If you could just stand back, so I can check on my patient."

The tone is not cordial, and Arthur can feel that Merlin obeys only reluctantly.

The man, another doctor Arthur assumes, presses some buttons on the machine that is connected to Arthur, that delivers his pain medication, and it beeps a few times.

"You know, visiting hours are over Emrys, I'm pretty certain you shouldn't still be here."

"Oh, and you're going to throw me out, are you?" Merlin's anger is barely kept in check.

"No need to get all aggressive on me now, your little boyfriend is going to be fine." And it is the way that this other man says _boyfriend _that clues Arthur into the cause of the tension between them; homophobe.

"You listen here, Valiant," Merlin practically spits the name.

"No. You listen here. I don't care what you get up to in your own time, but this is a family hospital, and to have you _pining_ at his bedside the whole time doesn't really send out the best message now, does it?"

Arthur can tell Merlin is about to explode, hit the man, something. But he is saved by another pair of footsteps entering the room, another voice joining the fray.

"Shut your mouth you egocentric prick. No one actually cares what you have to say."

Valiant splutters.

"Just get out," the new voice replies. And he does.

"Lance." Merlin sounds tired. "Thanks."

Finally, Arthur opens his eyes, and looks straight at this new doctor.

"Hi Arthur, I'm Dr Lance Grayson, one of Merlin's colleagues here. I'm the one who operated on you."

"Hi," he replies, and offers his unbroken left hand for Lance to shake.

"I actually just came here to say that we can discharge you in the morning. You head CT looks clean, so there's no untreated head trauma, and your ribs and arm are good to heal in their own time. You'll have to take it easy for a couple of weeks, but apart from that, you should be fine."

Merlin grasps Arthur's hand tightly before getting up to hug Lance.

"Thank you. Just, thank you."

"Just doing my job. Go home Merlin, get some rest, and you can come back tomorrow to take Arthur home. I'll keep an eye on him tonight." They all understand the unspoken promise, that he won't let Valiant anywhere near this room.

Merlin nods once, clasps Lance on the shoulder, kisses Arthur, and then heads home, shoulders slumped in relief.

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><p>Just a short final chapter to follow! Read on :D<p> 


	4. Chapter 4

Two weeks later, Arthur is ready to go back to work. He wakes up at the same time as Merlin for once, showers, shaves, puts on a suit, picks up his briefcase, kisses his boyfriend goodbye and is out the door before 8am. He doesn't however go to his office.

He grabs a coffee, and then goes to sit in the park, looking out over the deserted boating lake. He is waiting.

He sits there for nearly two hours, and then he heads into town. He walks steadily, even though his ribs are paining him slightly, and his arm is aching from under its cast. Down the main high street he walks into one shop, and one shop only, and comes out with a small bag.

Stowing his cargo in his briefcase, he heads back to the flat, and works from home for the day.

He is cooking when Merlin returns home from a relatively short and calm shift.

"Arthur?"

"Hello," he replies, and smiles brightly. "I just wanted to do something nice for you. To say thank you, for the past couple of weeks. For everything. Go get changed, it'll be ready in a minute."

Merlin pauses only to kiss Arthur briefly before disappearing into the bedroom, returning in some old jeans and one of Arthur's t-shirts.

They talk softly and smile gently through dinner, drinking cool white wine, feet tangling under the table.

Once they are finished, Merlin smiles at Arthur, and he knows that this is his moment. Slightly awkwardly, Arthur gets to his feet, only to drop down onto one knee in front of Merlin, drawing the small box taken from his briefcase earlier out from his pocket. Arthur hears the moment when Merlin's breath catches in his throat, and looks up at him from under soft blond lashes.

"Merlin. You are the most amazing person I have ever had the honour of knowing, and I can honestly not tell you enough how lucky I am that you're mine. And I'll be yours forever, if you'll have me. Merlin, will you marry me?

Merlin doesn't hesitate for a single second.

"Yes, yes, yes.

"Yes Arthur, I will."

"Merlin." The name is a benediction, one that he answers with his lips.

_Fin._

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><p>Thanks for reading! Please review :)<p> 


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